* Aradigm Corp., of Hayward, Calif., said a clinical study of itsAERx pulmonary drug delivery system for insulin showed thenoninvasive procedure lowered blood glucose levels in half the timeof regular insulin injections. The trial was conducted with healthyfasting volunteers.

* Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., changed the name of CibaCorning Diagnostics Corp. to Chiron Diagnostics Corp. Chiron'sacquisition of Ciba Corning was part of a strategic alliance forgedwith Ciba Geigy Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, in January 1995. Ciba,which is merging with fellow Basel drug maker, Sandoz Ltd., owns49.9 percent of Chiron.

* Collaboration Laboratories Inc., of East Setauket, N.Y., receivedthe first Helix Award presented by the New York BiotechnologyAssociation Inc., Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook and theLong Island Partnership for outstanding performance in three areas:scientific or product development, economic growth and corporatecitizenship. Collaborative Laboratories is a contract research andmanufacturing company.

* Genetics Institute Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., began construction ona $30 million expansion of its biopharmaceutical productdevelopment and manufacturing complex in Andover, Mass. The newfacility is expected to be complete by the end of 1997.

* GenPharm International Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., filed a patentinfringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern Districtof California against Cell Genesys Inc., of Foster City, Calif., and itssubsidiary Abgenix Inc., related to transgenic production of humanmonoclonal antibodies in mice. In another court action, Cell Genesyssaid a late January 1997 trial date was set for its lawsuit, filed inCalifornia's Santa Clara County Superior Court, charging GenPharmwith misappropriating Cell Genesys technology used to develop thetransgenic mice.

* Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, raised another $4.95million in a recent follow-on offering when underwriters Bear,Stearns & Co. and Hambrecht & Quist LLC, of New York, andRobertson, Stephens & Co., of San Francisco, exercisedoverallotment options to purchase 412,500 shares. Ligand's grossproceeds form the offering, which was priced at $12 per share,totaled $37.95 million for 3.16 million shares sold. The company hasabout 31.5 million shares outstanding. (See BioWorld Today, Oct.28, 1996, p. 1.)

* Maxim Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said preliminary datafrom an ongoing Phase II clinical trial of Maxamine, in combinationwith interleukin-2 and interferon-alpha, increased survival in patientswith advanced malignant melanoma. The study was conducted todetermine if the combination therapy was effective using low dosesof the cytokines, which have toxic side effects. An earlier trialdemonstrated Maxamine and higher doses of the cytokines improvedpatient survival. Maxamine is an H2 receptor agonist designed toprotect cytokine-activated natural killer cells, which attack cancertumors, from phagocyte-triggered apoptosis.

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.